Buster dashes through the opened front door, runs past the kitchen filled with delicious aromas, and heads straight to the back door. He longingly stares through the glass panes of the door and then begins to bark loudly. Buster wants to go swimming. No gentle licks of hello or nudges to be petted; he is a dog on a mission. Playing fetch with his water bumper in the pool brings him so much joy. Dogs appreciate the simple things in life. We should take lessons from them.

#1 – Simply Genius
This cooking technique found on GoodHomeDIY is simply genius. The onion ring not only holds the egg in a round-shape while cooking, but it also imparts additional flavor.

#3 – Box Templates
Making your own boxes may not seem like a simple process, but it brings such a sense of accomplishment when you are finished and have a beautiful box perfectly suited for its contents. Take a look at the variety of box and bag templates offered for free on Template Maker.

#5 – The Simple Life
To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter . . . to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird’s nest or a wildflower in spring — these are some of the rewards of the simple life. ~John Burroughs

Baskets of ripe tomatoes in a myriad of colors resemble a richly-textured quilt sitting on a table. As summer crops, such as tomatoes, peaches, berries and plums, wane and winter squashes take over the tables at farmers’ markets, I’m reminded that autumn is here. With temperatures still warm where I live, it’s hard to recognize the transition of summer to fall. But I’m ready, actually more than ready, for fall. I’m in the mood for apple cider and sweaters and soup and crisp mornings. What about you?

#1 – Mood Music
Does music create moods or do moods create music? I think it goes both ways. Whether you need music to match your mood or music to accompany a particular activity, you’ll probably find a playlist on STEREOmood that fits the bill. “Behind every song there’s always an emotion. We don’t know why but maybe that’s why we love music. So we’ve created a way to suggest songs that follow your feelings: stereomood is the free emotional internet radio, providing music that best suits your mood and your activities,” reads the website. Right now I’m listening to a playlist of music to paint by and, although I don’t paint anymore, listening to this playlist makes me want to get out my paint brushes!

#2 – Awwwards
No, the title is not misspelled. Awwwards are “The awards for design, creativity and innovation on the Internet, which recognize and promote the best web designers in the world.” Cool Gadgets for Creative Offices is an article that caught my eye. Check out the clever designs from ingenious designers. Or should it be, ingenious designs from clever designers?

#3 – How to Peel a Garlic in 10 Seconds!
Todd Coleman, Saveur executive food editor, shows in a super-brief video how to peel a head of garlic in less than 10 seconds! Wow, who would have thought you could work out your triceps and peel garlic at the same time!

#4 – Must-Reads
From Woman’s Day comes this list of 11 Must-Read Fall Books. Although I love to sink my teeth into a good book, I find that I don’t have as much time for reading as I would like. After reading the descriptions of each of these books, though, I’m in the mood to throw away my “To Do” list, snuggle on the sofa with my dog, and read them all!

#5 – Growing Ideas
“Throwing away ideas too soon is like opening a package of flower seeds and then throwing them away because they’re not pretty.”– Arthur VanGundy, Ph.D.

The air was damp and the sky was overcast, but still it was a lovely morning for a walk. The half-dressed autumn trees swayed in the breeze and encouraged their leaves to fall gracefully to the ground. As each season arrives and brings its unique character, I pause to breathe deep and say to myself, “This is the best time of the year.” And it always is.

#1 – Bingo, Anyone?
Breathe a little fun into your holiday gathering. On Christmas Eve each place setting on the tables in my house will have a little something extra – a bingo card. I’m making bingo cards and the markers will be holiday m&m candies. Just a little bit of fun before dinner starts. You can either make your own bingo cards using stickers or rubber stamps or go to DLTK to customize your cards and print them up!

#2 – Reuse It!
Breathe easier because here’s another idea for reusing plastic water bottles and saving the world from more trash. How about making cute bracelets out of bottles! Check out Dana’s Fashion Blog for complete instructions and pictorial.

#3 – Looking For a Good Book to Read?
I came across an article on LISTVERSE titled Top Ten Best Novels of the Last 20 Years. At first I was just curious, but as I read the article I became intrigued. A lot of these novels are out of my normal reading comfort zone, but Franz Kafka once said, “I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us. If the book we are reading doesn’t wake us up with a blow on the head, what are we reading it for? We need the books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us.” That’s intense and it leaves me breathless, but I’m still off to the bookstore to check out those titles!

#4 – Hit the Road
Feel like taking a road trip? MapCrunch is an interesting site where you can “teleport to a random place in the world!” Select a country and click “Go” and an image of a random street in that country appears on screen. Some scenes are breathtaking and some are not. Move your cursor to the lower right-hand corner of the image and you’ll see the address of the scene. A pointer on a map indicates where you are located in that country.

Share this:

Like this:

Subscribe And Get Email Updates!

Share this blog with friends

Once you click on the share button, you will be see a window with lots of choices. The easiest way to share this blog is to scroll down through the list to one of the "email" options you subscribe to. After you click on that option, you can enter the email addresses of people with whom you'd like to share this blog.